The Girl The Hat Got Wrong
by DrMagnus1850
Summary: Narcissa Black is completely alone. Surrounded by students who fear her family name and a sister who makes her life a misery, will Narcissa survive the seven years at Hogwarts before she can leave her ghastly family behind forever?
1. Chapter 1

Narcissa Black wrinkled her nose at the sight of it – the _Sorting Hat_. She had heard all about it from her parents; aunts and uncles; and of course from Bella, who had told her it hurt like death the moment it was placed on your head.

' _Does not._ ' Narcissa had said, rolling her eyeballs at her sister's taunt. _'Don't be stupid.'_

 _'Stupid?!'_

Her response had prompted Bellatrix to snatch a handful of her ghostly blond hair and tug until Narcissa's eyes began to water. _Do not cry._ She had thought, again and again. _Never show weakness._

Instead Narcissa had done what she always did. She grit her teeth and imagined what it would be like when she was older – when she graduated Hogwarts and could leave her family's horrid home forever. She would get a job somewhere grand – perhaps the Ministry of Magic – and she would meet a kind wizard and they would fall in love.

' _Think you're so smart, do you?'_ Bella snarled into her sister's ear. _'I'm still Mother and Father's favourite though, aren't I.'_

That much, was true...

Now the hat dangled, lifeless, before her eyes. Its tip was clenched between the thin fingers of a stern witch with a tight brown bun. The witch set the hat down on a stool, and all of a sudden it began to sing.

Narcissa watched the folds of enchanted fabric writhe with the lyrics of the song, and she felt her shoulders tense at the thought of its grubby rim touching her beautiful blonde hair. She bit her lip and crossed her arms tightly beneath her robes. _Just once._ She thought. _You only have to do this once_.

When the hat finished its song – tuneless though it was – the first of the students was summoned toward it. Then another; and another. A girl beside Narcissa squeaked as the hat bellowed house names and sent student after student to one of the four long tables that lined the Great Hall. She mopped her glistening brow with the cuff of her robes. Narcissa felt sorry for her. She _knew_ her fate, but it must be terribly frightening to have your whole school career hang on this one moment. She tried to shoot the girl a smile – perhaps they could be friends. The girl looked away, edging three steps further from her.

 _She knows._ Narcissa thought sadly. _She knows who I am_.

'Narcissa Black.' The witch with the bun said sharply, her tone a thick Scottish burr.

This was it. This was the moment every student feared. And rightly so... Unless you happened to be a Black.

If you were a Black – a Pureblood of the highest order – then your future was already laid out before you. For a Black, there was only one house that would do. For a Black, there was no escape.

Narcissa settled herself on the tiny stool, tucking one foot elegantly behind the other. She winced as the hat settled on her head, its deep, ancient drawl whispering through her skull.

' _Ambitious_.' The hat sneered. ' _And cunning too. A clever young thing, and you want the world to know it.'_

She felt a hundred pairs of eyes upon her. Students, teachers, even the ghosts watched in silence as the latest Black was sent to join her dastardly kin. _Any minute now..._

Narcissa was not afraid. She simply did not do fear. Fear was weakness, and for a Black, weakness was not to be tolerated. She had had years to prepare for this; years to practice her response. She would stand up straight, smooth her robes and walk straight to the table with her head held high. She would look Bella straight in the face and smile, knowing that her eldest sister was both her greatest ally and her biggest threat. Seven years; that was all she had to endure. She had managed eleven already, and that was without the magic of Hogwarts to distract her. In seven years she would leave the school and leave her family behind. She would escape the fate they had in store for her, and she would carve her own path. Because after all, Narcissa Black was clever.

She was the cleverest Black of all.

'RAVENCLAW !'


	2. Chapter 2

Narcissa sat on the end of her bed, the dark chamber filled with the sounds of four girls snoring softly. Her hair hung limp and sad over her face, and her jet black wand lay silent in her lap. With a finger she traced the small metal studs that lined its handle. It was beautiful.

' _A beautiful wand.'_ Mr. Ollivander had said. _'For a most beautiful witch.'_

That was what she was – beautiful. She wasn't fierce like Bella, nor brave like Dromeda. She was Cissy – the youngest, the prettiest. The forgotten.

All though dinner she had kept her eyes fixed firmly on her plate. She chased a tomato across it with a fork, and folded a napkin into an owl which, without her even trying, flapped its tiny wings and disappeared into the stormy grey ceiling. Anything to keep from meeting Bella's vengeful gaze. She could already imagine what the eldest sibling would say. _'You've shamed out family, you freak! I will make you bleed!'_ Narcissa shuddered. She would speak to Dromeda later – the middle sister was more reasonable, but for now Narcissa was glad to be alone.

She caught sight of her reflection in the window pane, and despite the immeasurable trouble she knew she was in, she saw her lips curl in a cunning smile. Narcissa Black had read every tome in her father's study. Twice. She knew more dark magic than most fully fledged witches ever would. All she needed was a term; just a few weeks here at Hogwarts and she would be more than a match for her sister.

A childhood spent in the shadows of a haunted house ensured that Narcissa took to the Hogwarts castle much more quickly than her peers. Her magical memory meant that she could recall the pattern of the shifting staircase without much effort at all, and any time she caught a whiff of Bella's unique aroma she put this special talent to very good use. She also spent every free hour holed up in the library, where a stone cold alcove tucked behind a lopsided, ebony bookshelf gave her all the cover she could ask for. It also helped that Bellatrix Black would never be seen dead in a library, in fact, Narcissa doubted her outspoken sister even knew where it was.

Three weeks passed in the blink of an eye, and they were the happiest of Narcissa's life. She was loathed by her Slytherin peers from what they deemed an unforgivable betrayal of character, and feared by her fellow Ravenclaws for her affiliation with dark magic. Regardless, Narcissa topped the class in almost every subject, with Transfiguration and Charms proving an equal synch, and Defence Against the Dark Arts – which frightened a number of her peers – teaching her little she had not already gleaned from her father's dark library. Apart from Flying – which Narcissa refused to consider a proper subject – she found Potions to be the only chink in her otherwise perfect armour.

'No, Miss Black!' Professor Slughorn slammed a palm on her desk, rolling his eyes as Narcissa's cauldron began to bubble and pop.

'But I used all the right ingredients!' She tried to ignore the sniggering that rattled around the dungeon. 'I don't understand!'

'Precisely!' Slughorn drawled, tapping the side of the cauldron with his wand until the potion began to simmer. A few bright green sparks danced in the air above it, causing Narcissa to flinch. 'Miss Black, how do you intend to become a master of potions if you are _afraid_ of the cauldron?'

More laughter.

'I'm not afraid.' Narcissa mumbled. 'I just don't want to singe my hair.'

She cringed, realising too late that she had spoken aloud. She was powerless to stop it now, and grit her teeth as the whole classroom erupted with laughter.

'Your hair?' Slughorn drawled, his mouth set in a cruel smile. 'Well, _Cissy_ , I suggest you overcome your vanity post haste, lest I be forced to insist that you sever your ghostly locks.'

With a glower, Slughorn turned and stomped across the dungeon, leaving Narcissa to twitch and touch her fingers to her hair.

'Take no notice of Slughorn.' She hardly noticed the whispery voice until she felt the brush of fingers on her shoulder. 'It's Slytherin pride.'

Narcissa snatched a small, mottled jar from the shelf of the storage closet and turned to glare at the speaker. He was about the same height as she was, with a slightly askew Ravenclaw tie and a head of unruly black hair which rather resembled a scrubbing brush.

The glare failed, she realised, as the boy smiled. 'Yamato.' He extended a hand. 'Yamato Chang.'

Narcissa, taken quite aback, shook the proffered hand. 'Erm, Narcissa Black.'

He was still smiling, grinning like an idiot, in fact. 'Oh, I know who you are. The whole school knows. _The darkest witch to grace Ravenclaw Tower_. That's what they say.'

 _Wonderful_. 'I bet they do.' She turned to walk back to her bench, but Yamato followed.

'Is it true then?' He asked, lowering his voice and lining up ingredients. 'Can you do dark magic?'

'Don't be stupid.' She twisted the lid from the jar, breathing through her mouth as a foul aroma filled the air. 'We're just first years.'

Yamato watched her, unblinking. His brown eyes twinkled knowingly in the low light. 'But you're a Black. You must have seen - Wait!' He reached over and snatched the jar away. 'You're doing it wrong!'

Narcissa scowled. How would this _boy_ know if she were doing it wrong if she didn't even know herself?!

He swished the jar in a clockwise motion, until the yellow liquid within turned a bright pink. 'You have to wake it up, like this.' He poured the pink, sickly sweet smelling liquid into the cauldron, where her brew pulsed a deep, dark purple.

Narcissa bent over it, watching as the potion bubbled twice and belched a soft _poof_. 'How did you know that?'


	3. Chapter 3

When class was over, Narcissa began her daily trek to the library. She moved quickly, hiding beneath the throng of older students until she was in the safety of her sanctuary. Except today, something was different. Today, she had a stalker.

'Look.' She turned, glaring at Yamato until he cracked his goofy grin. 'Thank you for your help, but I need to study.'

'Do you? Or do you just want to hide?'

She bit her lip, turning over a few possible insults in her mind. _What to say to get rid of him_... Narcissa opened her mouth to speak, then she froze. Her whole life, she had been alone. Her brief stint at muggle school had come to an abrupt end thanks to Bella; and it was not as though she was exactly _friends_ with her sisters. The best Narcissa had come to hope for was to get through the next seven years by being invisible – and already she was off to a pretty bad start.

Yamato's description rang in her mind: ' _The darkest witch to grace Ravenclaw Tower._ '

Could he believe as much and still want to be her friend?

'You're not afraid of me?'

'Should I be?' They spoke in whispers, tucked into Narcissa's stalwart alcove.

'The others are. They fear my family.'

He shrugged. 'I don't know your family. I only know you.'

He didn't. Yamato Chang knew nothing about her, but perhaps that was a good thing. Perhaps Yamato was the friend she never knew she wanted.

'Can I ask you something?'

Narcissa, halfway through a bite of her breakfast, looked over the table at Yamato. They sat at the end, a bit apart from the other Ravenclaws, who eyed them with distaste.

She swallowed. 'I suppose.'

'What is it with you and the hair?'

Narcissa felt her pale face flush red. She dropped the lock she was twirling and pretended to be very interested in the deep blue tablecloth. 'What about my hair?'

'I mean...' He stammered. 'You brush it a lot, and then there was that thing with Slughorn.'

Since that one, fateful encounter with the Potions Master, Narcissa had wisely taken to tying her hair back during his classes. Her skill had also improved tremendously, thanks to Yamato's unnatural understanding of the subject.

'Just vain I suppose.'

'No. That's not it.'

Narcissa glanced down the table to a couple of second years who seemed to have stopped talking suddenly. She could almost see their ears grow as they strained to overhear the conversation. _I could_ make _their ears grow..._ She smiled darkly, her wand pulsing desperately beneath her robes.

 _No_. She shook the thoughts away. _I will not be like them._

With a sigh, Narcissa decided to tell her friend the truth. 'It's blonde.' She began, stating the hopelessly obvious. 'It is the only thing that sets me apart from them.'

For a moment she thought he was going to laugh, or worse, call down the table and tell their classmates about the vane, pale little girl who had worked so hard to prove she belonged. Instead, he just nodded. 'Your family.'

Now it was her turn to ask something, something that had been gnawing at her in the fortnight since they had become friends. 'Why are you friends with me? I mean, why not the other first years?'

He gave her a look that plainly read: _would_ you _want to be friends with them?_ Then he shrugged. 'They don't really want me around.'

Narcissa felt her brow crease. 'Why not?'

'Because I'm Asian.' He turned to wink at a couple of watchful Gryffindor first years, both of whom stood quickly and all but ran from the Great Hall. 'Some think Hogwarts should be a bit more... _selective_ , in its students.'

Narcissa stared at her friend for a moment, chastising herself for not realising it sooner. Then again, it had barely crossed her mind that Yamato was Asian. It just didn't seem that important. 'Selective, huh? I know a bit about that.'

'Are they really so bad? Your family, I mean.'

Narcissa opened her mouth to respond, but before she could a bowl of fresh fruit salad exploded in the centre of the Ravenclaw table. Yamato flinched, mumbling something in his native tongue as he wiped a slice of strawberry from his forehead.

'Thought you could hide from me, Cissy?'

Narcissa leapt from to her feet, fingers fumbling for her wand as a second spell hit the table, sending the second, third and fourth years scurrying away.

'Leave me alone, Bella.' _Stupid! Stupid, stupid, stupid!_ She had let her guard down. Only for a second, Narcissa had forgotten to keep one eye on the door and one foot on the floor for a quick escape.

Bellatrix sneered. 'Or what?'

 _Or what?_ Not yet. Narcissa had heard from Andromeda that their eldest sister was on the warpath, fuelled by their parents' scorn. She had convinced herself that when the time came she could stand up to Bellatrix... Stand up to her insane sister who pulled her hair and made her cry; who stole her clothes and cut them to shreds. She could _make_ Bellatrix leave her alone.

Just not yet.

'Please, Bella.' She heard the whine in her own voice, and knew she had made things worse.

A pair of plain Slytherin girls flanked Bellatrix, and she now looked to them, grinning from ear to ear. _'Please_. Miss Genius said _please_!'

The girls laughed. It was false, but they were every bit as afraid of Bellatrix as Narcissa was. _And with good reason_.

Yamato, who was caught awkwardly between the sisters Black, motioned as if to stand. This act, the barest movement, brought him to the Slytherins' attention and he flinched as Bellatrix's curved wand dug harshly into his throat.

'Alright, Cissy. I can leave you alone. For now.' She cackled, prompting another false guffaw from her classmates. 'But someone's gotta bleed for the shame you brought on our good name.' Her eyes flickered darkly over Yamato, not unlike a snake about to crush the life from its prey. 'How about your mudblood boyfriend.'

Narcissa felt her chest tighten. She felt her eyes begin to fill. _No._ She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came. Turning, she searched desperately for someone, anyone who would come to their aid. There was nobody there. No staff. Not even a prefect. Not that it would have done much good, all the students were afraid of Bellatrix Black.

They were alone.

'Let's see what happens when a Ravenclaw gets hit by a curse.' Bellatrix winked at her sister. 'A very special curse.'

Narcissa felt a tear roll over her cheek. Why did she have to be different? Why did she have to be clever? This was not part of the plan. _Yamato_ was not part of the plan. She met eyes with her friend, and for the first time there was no hint of his cocky smile; only fear.

 _No._ Bellatrix had bullied her for eleven years. She had lied about her to get her into trouble; she had mocked her; cut her hair. Narcissa was used to it, and one day she would get her revenge, but there was no way she would stand by and let Yamato bear the brunt of her sister's insanity.

The Slytherin girls began to tug Yamato from his seat to a chorus of Bellatrix's cackle.

'Stop.' Narcissa whispered.

Bellatrix laughed harder then, her wand pressing into Yamato's throat until his skin turned white from the point.

'I said... _STOP!'_ Narcissa snatched her wand from her waistband, turning it on her sister before Bellatrix could react. 'Expelliarmus!'

The spell hit Bellatrix quick as a bolt of lightning, the force of it knocking her to the ground and sending her curved wand hurtling through the air. The two Slytherin girls stared at Narcissa for a second, their eyes wide with shock. One of them bent to help Bellatrix to her feet but she slapped the hand away.

'I don't need any help from you,' Bellatrix snarled, shoving they girl harshly into the Ravenclaw bench.

Then Bellatrix turned her attention on Narcissa, cruel eyes filled with fury. A thin trail of blood had begun to trickle from the corner of her lip and her mess of dark curls hung like a lion's mane around her face.

Narcissa took an inadvertent step back, very aware of Yamato a few paces behind her. _Go and fetch a teacher_ , she willed her friend. _Please, go!_

'Traitor,' Bellatrix hissed. 'You little traitor, I will cut you to shreds! Wand!'

The second Slytherin girl hurried forward and pushed her own want into Bellatrix' outstretched claw. Narcissa felt herself moved further from her sister, he wand hand quivering as she raced through the list of duelling spells she knew. Narcissa had read hundreds of magical books but reading the spells were not the same as having learned to cast them.

Bellatrix swept drunkenly toward her, torn robes sweeping the floor. She raised the purloined wand toward Narcissa and...

'ENOUGH!' Albus Dumbledore's voice shook the great hall, causing a few more bowls of salad and oatmeal to explode across the benches. 'Get to class, all of you!' Dumbledore boomed.

Narcissa felt her heart thunder against her ribcage, a sigh of relief tearing from her as she was spared her sister's wrath for another day. She looked toward Dumbledore, who glowered at Bellatrix until she lowered the wand and passed it back to her classmate. Narcissa snatched up her book bag and took a single step away from her sister, desperate to get to Transfiguration and put thoughts of duelling Bellatrix from her mind.

'Miss Black.' Dumbledore's voice was stern. Narcissa and Yamato stopped, turning to look at the headmaster. 'This does not concern you, Mister Chang.'

Yamato shot Narcissa a look of concern, backing slowly out of the great hall along with the half dozen other students whose breakfast had been interrupted by the confrontation leaving Narcissa alone with her scorned sister and the furious headmaster.


End file.
